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Proposed Massachusetts Special License Plate Features Mayflower and Native American

ICTMN Staff

9/25/12

Does the proposed design for a special license plate commemorating the Plymouth, Massachusetts 400th anniversary celebrate or denigrate the past?

It shows a blue image of the Mayflower and in it is a white silhouette of what is supposed to be a Native American man. Along the bottom of the license plate is the slogan “1620 Plymouth 2020."

The creators of the plate, Plymouth 400, Inc.—the same nonprofit group that is organizing the anniversary celebration—want it to become a marketing tool.

“There’s a two-fold benefit in this: the publicity that we’ll get from people showing their pride in their community … [and] the $28 per plate that we’ll get as part of our fund-raising efforts,” Kevin O’Reilly, president of Plymouth 400, Inc. told the Boston Globe. “Not only will we be spreading the word, we’ll be getting donations to help fund the anniversary.

The plates will cost drivers $40, and as O’Reilly said, $28 of that will go toward the town’s anniversary celebration.

Before any of this can happen though, the state requires that Plymouth 400, Inc. collect 1,500 applications for the special license plate and the Registry of Motor Vehicles has to approve the design.

Before plates can be produced, the organization has to put up a $100,000 bond or have 3,000 paid applications for the special plate.

According to the Boston Globe, the group had 978 requests for the plate as of September 13 and O’Reilly thinks they’ll reach the 1,500 goal by the end of the year.

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I worked on the committee that developed this logo. I am a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. Trust me when I tell you that 2020 will not occur without everyone knowing who was here first. The organizers are very aware that the event will commemorate a time in history that is not celebrated among Native People and that they must, as was attempted in the Jamestown commemoration, respect and honor the sacrifices of the indigenous people. Engaging in the development of the logo and plans for 2020 means we will not be left a footnote in our own history once again.

I'm wondering about the Plymouth situation. I remeber being taught in school during the 60's-70's that the Pilgrims and Puritans of the 1600's were looking for a free environment to practice political and relgious freedom, yet they never acted as if they wanted to overthrow the English King one day and start a liberation movement back in England, which is strange, because in some ways it was easier to topple dictators then as opposed to now. All these terrible weapons from the 20th century to the present. After finding out what really went on in America in those times we became so digusted with the colonists that we dumped Thanksgiving and moved the whole meal to US Christmas. We don't feel bad about that,because eating turkey won't make one a good American, but defending this country does.